Stephen Anthony & Merritt David Janes to Lead CATCH ME IF YOU CAN National Tour

Troika Entertainment, LLC has just announced initial casting for the CATCH ME IF YOU CAN national tour, which officially kicks off at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, RI on October 7.

The charming, high-flying con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr. will be played by Stephen Anthony and Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent who is always on Frank’s tracks, will be played by Merritt David Janes. Additional casting includes Aubrey Mae Davis as Brenda Strong, Caitlin Maloney as Paula Abagnale, Amy Burgmaier as Carol Strong, D. Scott Withers as Roger Strong, Travis Mitchell as Agent Branton, Ben Laxton as Agent Dollar, Derrick Parks as Agent Cod, Amanda Braun, Ashley Chasteen, Taylor Collins, Vanessa Dunleavy, Michael Graceffa, Colleen Hayes, Mary Claire King, Trevor Leaderbrand, Casey Renee Rogers, Daniel J. Self, Allyson Tolbert, Nadia Vynnytsky and Bradley Allan Zarr. Additional casting will be released at a later date.

Based on the hit DreamWorks film, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN captures the astonishing true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a world-class con artist who passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and a jet pilot—all before the age of 21. With straight-arrow FBI agent Carl Hanratty on Frank's trail, we're off on a jet-setting, cat-and-mouse chase, as a jazzy, swinging-sixties score keeps this adventure in constant motion. In the end, Agent Hanratty learns he and Frank aren't so very different after all, and Frank finds out what happens when love catches up to a man on the run.

This engagement follows hot on the heels of the recent Broadway run, where the show received considerable acclaim. The New York Times exclaims, “Hot diggity! This portrait of the con artist as a young man comes to ecstatic life.” WOR Radio calls it “absolutely marvelous” and proclaims CATCH ME IF YOU CAN “A real BROADWAY musical with showstoppers to enthrall just about everyone.” And Vanity Fair says “CATCH ME will move you to live life to the fullest and dance past anything standing in your way,” and urges “Get your seats now!”

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is based on the book and hit 2002 film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg with screenplay by Jeff Nathanson and book by Frank Abagnale, Jr.

Nominated for four Tony® Awards and six Drama Desk Awards, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN features a Tony Award-winning creative team, with a book by Terrence McNally (The Full Monty, Ragtime), an irresistible score by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman (Hairspray), choreography by Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, Legally Blonde) and direction by Jack O’Brien (Hairspray, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels).

Scenic design for CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is by David Rockwell (Hairspray), costumes based on the original design by five-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long (The Producers), lighting design is by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (Wicked) and sound design is by Peter McBoyle. For more information visit www.CatchMeOnTour.com.

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